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Colleges

WBB: Campbell Falters against Winthrop, 76-53

Jan 26, 2013

Buies Creek, N.C. — The Campbell women's basketball team was topped by Winthrop, 76-53, on Saturday afternoon at Gore Arena/John W. Pope Jr., Convocation Center. Junior forward Ashley James (Round Rock, Texas) posted 16 points, while sophomore forward Juli Osborne (Kingsport, Tenn.) contributed a career-high 10 points.

The Lady Camels dropped to 13-7 overall and 5-4 in the Big South, while the Eagles improved to 13-8 this season and 7-2 in the league. Campbell was down just seven points, 43-52, with 8:36 remaining before Winthrop went on a 10-2 run to take control of the game.

Winthrop was paced by Dequesha McClanahan with 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting, which included a 3-for-3 performance from behind the arc. As a team, the Eagles shot 50 percent (30-of-60) from the field and 9-of-17 from beyond the arc.

Campbell on the other hand had a difficult time from three-point range as freshman guard RaeChaun Edwards (Spring Grove, Va.) made the team's only trey in 14 attempts, which was a season-low three-point field goal percentage. The Lady Camels did counter a difficult shooting day by going to the post for points as forwards James and Osborne paced the team, which shot 40 percent (24-of-60) overall.

Ball movement was a key for Campbell, who totaled 21 assists during the contest, led by Edwards and junior guard Jessica Moore (Jacksboro, Tenn.) with five each. The Lady Camels committed just 12 turnovers, a season low, but the Eagles made those transition opportunities count for 12 points.
Campbell scored 16 points off the 20 mistakes made by Winthrop, which included 10 steals.

The Lady Camels were not as successful on the offensive glass as they were against Radford, registering a season-low 10 second-chance opportunities. Winthrop posted 45 rebounds including 29 on the defensive end as Taylor Calvert totaled a game-high 10 boards.

Leading Campbell in rebounds was Moore with five and senior guard Tonisha Baker (High Point, N.C.) with four.

Eight points were scored by Baker, while sophomore forward Kiera Gaines (Mechanicsville, Va.) and Edwards registered seven and six points, respectively.

Aliyah Kilpatrick and Diana Choibekova also reached double-figures for the Eagles with 13 and 12 points each. Kilpatrick came one rebound shy of a double-double.

The contest started with the Big South Preseason Player of the Year McClanahan scoring the first five points for Winthrop. The Lady Camels came back on a 9-3 run to take their first lead of the game on a three pointer by Edwards.

A jumper from Baker put the Lady Camels up 11-10 with 12:53, their final lead of the contest. Winthrop registered a 10-2 run to take a seven-point advantage at 20-13 with 9:15 to go in the half.
The contest went back and forth as Campbell scored the next four points on jumpers from Baker and Osborne with 7:49 remaining. The Lady Camels were unable to close the deficit any further as the Eagles raced to a 31-23 halftime advantage.

It was a conservative half for Campbell, who protected the ball, committing just five turnovers. The Lady Camels totaled eight assists, but the shots from the outside were not falling as it shot just 10-of-30 from the field.

To start the second frame, Winthrop took a double-digit lead at 23-33 and kept at least a seven-point advantage throughout the rest of the contest.

Every time that the Lady Camels appeared to be making a run, Winthrop had an answer. A made field goal by Baker and layup from James closed the deficit to seven, but the next possession, McClanahan drilled a trey to rebuild a 10-point advantage.

There was fight from Campbell following a three-point field goal by McClanahan to post a 13-point lead, 35-48, with 11:58 remaining. The Lady Camels then went on an 8-2 run to close the advantage back to seven with 8:39 left.

That was as close as the Lady Camels came before a 10-2 Winthrop run put the guests ahead 62-45 with six minutes on the clock. The Eagles did not look back from there as it posted a 76-53 victory.

The Lady Camels welcome Liberty on Thursday at 7 p.m. before closing out a four-game home stand with an ESPN3 game on Feb. 2 against Longwood at 1 p.m.